


Mercy Is A Foreign Word

by rhythmicroman



Series: Mercy Is A Foreign Word [2]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Adventure, Agender Chara, Asgore is a softie, Asriel & Flowey are mentioned, Big Brother Sans, Chara Protection Squad, Chara Redemption, Chara Swearing, Chara hates sans, Chara is a little jerk, Chara is gonna have a bad time, Chara isn't mute either, Cinnamon Roll Papyrus, Depressed Sans, Depression, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Frisk Needs A Hug, Frisk is not mute, Frisk just wanted to have a good time, Going on a trip in their favourite rocket ship, Hypersomnia, Innocent Papyrus, Kidnapping, Knowing me, Less angsty than just depressing, Nightmares, No Sex, No Smut, Non-Binary Chara, Non-Binary Frisk, Non-sexual kidnapping, Occasional fluff, Other, PTSD, Pacifist Spoilers, Papyrus is pissed, Papyrus style, Papyrus will stab a bitch, Post-Canon, Post-Pacifist Route, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Sans, Safe For Work, Sans abuse, Sans can't be bothered, Sans has slight PTSD, Sans-centric, So does Papyrus, Swearing, Teacher Toriel, The Plot Thickens, They're honestly feeling so attacked right now, This probably sucks, Toriel hates Asgore, Undyne will join Papyrus with stabbing a bitch, W hoops, chara is redeemed later on, completely SFW, don't expect anything top-notch, genocide spoilers, mature frisk, mention of depression, papyrus remembers the resets, sans has nightmares, sfw, too much plot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-13
Updated: 2016-04-30
Packaged: 2018-05-20 05:36:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 3,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5993473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhythmicroman/pseuds/rhythmicroman
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sans' memories of past resets keep him up every night - the sound of the little brat's laughter drowns out reality.</p><p>He can't live with it anymore.</p><p>When the devil in his dreams comes for him in reality, there's nowhere to run or hide. Right now, he's wishing he was down in the Underground again, and that he had never listened to the soothing door-voice and just killed the kid.</p><p>Because he never was good at keeping promises.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Well, I Know You Lay In Bed, Contemplating Your Own Death

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first attempt at Undertale angst, and also my first upload on AO3, so sorry if it's a little fast!
> 
> The first chapter is a quick prologue. Please keep in mind that other chapters will be hopefully much longer!

The soft, childish laughter of Frisk echoed from the other room, and he relaxed as he heard it.

It wasn't them. It wasn't. He knew that. He knew.

Papyrus' loud laughter flooded the halls and seeped through the cracks in Sans' door, only relaxing him more. Pap was safe - dead skeletons don't laugh. Dust doesn't laugh.

It suddenly struck him that he had woken up - or rather, broken out of his half-asleep coma - rather late. It was about four in the afternoon, and yet he still felt exhausted.

Maybe it was Hypersomnia, maybe it was Depression, he couldn't be sure - but whatever it was, he was always in a rather dull state of sleepiness. A few days prior, Papyrus had screamed his name seven times before he finally realized that the taller skeleton was sat beside him.

But in the present, Sans let out an obnoxiously loud yawn and shifted to his feet, pulling his trademark blue hoodie over his shirt - something he's done for the last four years straight - and shuffling quietly towards the door. He exited into the hall and gradually made his way to the kitchen.

"Going somewhere?"

He froze. That voice. It was impossible. He turned his head so fast that he felt like his neck would snap, and let his eyesockets widen.

There, sat on the railings of the stairway, legs dangling low, was Chara.

Their pale face now looked much different to Frisk's - their cheeks were salmon-pink and their eyes were pale grey and so large that they seemingly didn't have any whites at all, nor did they have pupils.

They had their regular striped jumper on, though it was faded and worn, and a large golden flower was hanging in their hair within a jail of caramel strands. They grinned lazily and kicked at Sans, who dodged on instinct, narrowly avoiding the incoming green Doc Martens.

"what do you want, kid?" he half-snarled, half-grunted, trying not to fall asleep standing up. Their laughter rang through the air - Sans had to look twice to make sure that he wasn't just dreaming again, but sure enough, their pasty-white lips were spread in a toothy grin, their blood-red tongue sticking out ever-so-slightly. A whimper escaped him as he shuffled backwards, pulling his plush sleeves down over his hands and pressing them gently against the sides of his head.

Chara scowled and grabbed his elbow, getting another emasculating squeak in response, and tugged his arm away from his ear.  
"I want to kill you." they said simply, their sweet-as-sugar tone cutting him like a knife - a simile that made him inwardly wince. "I never got to this time. It's not fair! Frisk gets soooo many games their way, and I hardly get any! I figured out a plan, this time."

"a... a plan?"

They nodded, grinning again, their slightly-pointed teeth digging into their lips. "I figured killing Papyrus first would just give you reason to destroy me. But you? If I can kill you whilst at my strongest, that stupid bonehead-" they laughed at their own joke, "-will try and defend you. I figured I'd give him the heroic downfall this time. We all have to take our turns, Sansy~!"

They grabbed his other elbow too, tugging him forwards and grabbing his hand, every one of his fingers held tightly together in an uncomfortable manner.

"But then I thought, no, why kill you? If I kill you, there's no way that Papyrus will have any reason to get me. It'd be a lost cause." their smile widened. "Which is why I'm taking you hostage."

"w-what?"

They rolled their eyes, tightening their grip and smiling as he whimpered. "You really are thick, aren'tcha? I said," their eyes turned dark, "I'm. Taking. You. Hostage."

"n-no you a-aren't."

"Oh? Whose going to stop me?" they looked amused. Sans quickly looked for a way out.

"undyne! papyrus! UNDIES! PAP!" he found himself yelling, only to be held to the small child's chest, them tutting in his ear.

"Oh, poor Sansy, I thought you knew..."

They pulled him even closer and laughed out a whisper, grinning toothily as his eyesockets widened and twisting his arms around, dragging him behind them.

Sans struggled against them, but slowly found his exhaustion catching up to him. His metaphorical brain was still in shock. I mean, it's not every day that you hear that.

What had they told him? Well...

"Oh, poor Sansy, I thought you knew... the void is a one-way mirror~"

He choked out a cry before his world turned dark.


	2. Well, Just Look At What You've Done, Don't You Dare Forget The Sun!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus discovers what's left of Sans' room, and Frisk is the most mature in this situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey!
> 
> I've counted how many words are in this one - approximately 650? I'm planning on making the next chapters much longer, but this was written in about an hour whilst waiting to go and see the Deadpool movie! (#Hype)
> 
> This was really fun to write. And, if you didn't notice, the chapter titles are always gonna be song lyrics. The first two are from 'Don't You Dare Forget The Sun'. The next chapter will probably have another song, though!
> 
> I never expected this story to actually be read, nevermind get any kudos! So thanks, guys! It means a lot to me!
> 
> (SIDE NOTE: I'll be uploading some fics from my Quotev account [@.ThatxDorkxLionsaurus] on here soon - which means a load of FNaF and Undertale fics! Also, I'll be writing some more FNaF fanfics if I feel like it. Enjoy, my animalsaurs! :D )

"SANS? SA-ANS?"

Papyrus leant to the side slightly and peered through the doorway, an eyebrow raised. Slowly straightening his spine, he walked through the halls and peeked through the open door of Sans' room.

And there he was, lay in a bundle.

Well, so Papyrus thought at first. He cautiously shifted towards the bed and threw the duvet off.

A pile of pillows was expertly arranged in a lopsided approximation of a skeleton's body shape. One of his puffy blue jackets was lay on top, a rolled-up, thin comforter stuffed in both sleeves, barely poking out on either end. He choked out a gasp and took a step backwards.

He had expected to have a lazy day, not a Sans-hunt!

Believe it or not, Papyrus quite enjoyed lazy days - he'd hang his battle body in his wardrobe and put on his own puffy orange jacket, and he'd wind his scarf around his waist like a belt. Lazy-days for the monsters were spent lay on the couch watching whatever movie they could get their hands on - superheroes, Disney princesses, horror, whatever - whilst shoveling handful after handful of toffee-coated popcorn into their mouths. They'd order pizza or go to Grillby's, and it'd be loads of fun.

But this was definitely NOT a lazy-day.

Papyrus whimpered, hands flying to his waist and fiddling with the rose-red scarf that limply hung there - a nervous habit he'd taken up.

"A-Alright, Papyrus," he began whispering, "D-Don't jump to conclusions! J-Just because he's n-not here, doesn't mean he's... d-dead!"

Evidently, Papyrus was horrible at calming himself down, as he now had the idea that Sans might have tripped on a pebble and exploded into a shower of dust, or fell down the stairs and melted into a dusty silver puddle - he was too caught up scanning the room for piles of dust to notice the glittery orange tears leaking from his eyesockets.

"Papyrus?"

Said skeleton looked up, his teary eyesockets locking onto Frisk's dark brown orbs. They took a step back at the look of pure despair on his face.

Clicking their tongue, Frisk ran their tan fingers through their hair, and chewed at their lip. "What's wrong? I...Is it Sans?"

Frisk didn't need to get a response to know that they'd asked the right thing, as Papyrus promptly curled into an awkward ball and sobbed into his hands. Eyebrows furrowing in concern, they walked over to the six-foot-tall skeleton and patted his back, wiping the orange tears from beneath his eyes.

"H-He's not th-there, T-Tiny H-H-Human..." Papyrus' accented voice rang through the room, breaking his stream of sobs. Frisk raised an eyebrow at this and stood on their toes to see over his head - sure enough, the bed was empty, Sans' jacket lying in a crumpled heap next to the headboard, throw-pillows and cushions lying abandoned around the bed. Scratches were running down the mattress, no doubt from Papyrus' panicked search.

"I know, love," Frisk commented softly. "he's not there. But there's no use getting worked up. Crying won't solve the problem, Pap."

The orange-clad skeleton sniffed and wiped at his tears with his knuckles. "I k-know," he quietly replied, "but I d-don't know what to d-do. W-Without S-Sans, I'm n-not the G-Great Pa-Papyrus... I'm just P-Papyrus... s-stupid P-Papyrus..."

Frisk curled a hand around the skeleton's mouth and gently pushed his jaw up, closing it. "Shush. You know that those are lies." They forced a sad smile. "Sans doesn't like it when you tell porky-pies, does he?"

Papyrus simply shook his head in response, muttering a faint apology.

"It's alright." Frisk said, getting to their feet and offering Papyrus a hand. "We all get a little emotional now and again. But how about we go and look for Sans? It'll be just like a treasure hunt."

"Y-Yeah," Papyrus sadly agreed, "j-just like a t-treasure hunt..."

And this treasure meant the world to him.


	3. Welcome To Their World That's Lying In Ashes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara and Sans' first meeting is explained.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya!
> 
> I counted the words again - only 640 or so, but I think it's a rather enjoyable chapter.
> 
> Just a warning, but this chapter contains one or two instances of swears later on, and is quite dark in some senses. Some Sans-abuse and Papyrus-bashing on Chara's part, but Sans is a tough cookie and Papyrus - excuse my French - doesn't give a fuck.
> 
> Keep in mind that Chara's thoughts in no way are similar to mine - I love the Skelebros to heaven and back!
> 
> Many characters are mentioned in this chapter but not named. Mettaton is described as a 'pink ghost', as Alphys is still a child in the flashback he's mentioned in and is thus incapable of building a completely new body.
> 
> And yes, 'Where's Pauli' is a reference to 'Where's Wally' (or Waldo if you're American).
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> (P.S: Thank you guys so much! I never expected to get so much love for this! :D)  
> (P.P.S: The name of this chapter is a slightly edited version of part of the song Puppet from Ib - 'Welcome to her world that's lying in ashes,' is my favourite line by far!)

"Oh, keep still, you stupid bag of bones!"

They couldn't help the pure anger seeping into their voice as they held the shorter of the two skeletons down by his wrists. He screeched at them and squirmed under their grasp. They rolled their eyes and kicked him half-heartedly, securing the lock and chain on his arm.

"How is it that when I kill him, you come at me guns blazing? But when I kill you..."

"he's more important." his voice was flat and dull. "everyone loves him."

They raised an eyebrow and let out a laugh. "Really? You really think so?" They began walking around him, grinning when he tried to pull away. "You think Alphys loves him? He's stealing Undyne from her. You think Undyne loves him? He practically stalks her! Use your nonexistent brain, for once in your life!"

Sans didn't believe them.

When Chara was little, they were allowed to go to the Monsters' school.

The class they were put in was mixed ability - they remembered walking quietly in and looking over a sea of monsters.

Two goat anthros were sat beside each-other, hands intertwined in a sign of young love. They resisted gagging and moved on.

Two skeletons were sat together, one of them scrawling the letter 'Z' repeatedly into a crossword with a red biro and the other drawing themselves in bright blue crayon. They scrunched up their nose at the latter - he wore a permanent, emotionless smile.

A fish-human hybrid with her hair scraped into a tight red ponytail was growling and tightly gripping the pages of a 'Where's Pauli' book, the pages crumpling in her fists. A small yellow lizard anthro beside her was squeaking at every growl and quietly pointing at the stripy-clothed monster on every page.

A bipedal Spider-Queen was seated quietly at the back, whispering to a large spider in her pocket and nibbling on a Spider Donut - which tasted about the same as biting the skin off your own lip, but was enjoyable for the hard-skinned female.

Two ghosts were sat at the back beside the eight-legged biped, one pink and the other white. The pink one was twirling and dancing and singing the lyrics to a pop song in a soft but masculine voice - the white one was smiling at him and listening to a mixtape through bright blue headphones.  
Behind them, an alligator and a chubby cat were - for lack of a better term - fangirling over the former.

The teacher - a tall ram with twisting horns and a warm smile - calmly directed them to a seat beside the skeletons. They rolled their eyes and complied.

Needless to say, they hated them.

The one with the crossword - who was later learnt to be 'Papyrus Gaster' - was, in their opinion, extremely obnoxious. His voice was loud and heavily accented, and he was forever sticking his face in the warmth of his red scarf and leaning back to crack his spine on the short back of his seat. He was significantly taller than the other, but obviously significantly younger.

The crayon-doodling, unnerving one was called 'Sans Gaster', and was the other's older brother, despite being about a foot shorter. He was always throwing them nervous glances and fidgeting in his oversized blue jacket. He tucked his previous drawings into his desk and took another piece of printer paper from the teacher's desk - the ram just smiled at him. Sans then took to doodling Chara in immense detail.

It was almost terrifying - he'd stare at them with those wide, lidless eyes for minutes on end, then suddenly he'd look down at the lopsided human shape he'd drawn and scribble over it and try again. He was surprisingly observant for a skeleton - it gave them the chills.

They decided they didn't like the skeleton.

Their hatred only returned years later, when they were finally resurrected by Frisk's 'determination'. They were much too quick getting their introductions over with - they even spat out a random, fake name, which sounded wrong on their tongue - and they saw the suspicion glinting in his mock-eyes. His stare made them uneasy and made their words feel like bile in the back of their throat.

And then, there he was, waiting in the judgement hall.

Motherfucker.

They found it rather amusing, really, that he couldn't beat their ass hard enough then, yet there he was, sat chained to a wall, looking like a puppy that'd just been kicked. A faint purple bruise was on the side of his skull from their kicking and a purple band ran around his wrists, but he didn't look like he really cared. He just stared blankly at the concrete wall, ignoring Chara's presence completely. They growled and kicked at him, squeaking when he dodged and they were sent flying.

They growled and grunted and massaged the bruise on their knee. "You won't get away with that!"

Sans' smile was as empty as his eyes as he let out an unnerving laugh. "i never said i would."


	4. WARNING~!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little warning. Skippable, but important.

hey. i guess you're wondering where i've been, huh, kid?

well, no need to worry. you'll see soon enough.

but... uh... the author... she told me to warn you guys.

the next couple of chapters are angst-central, involve cursing, and dark but much-needed character development.

they will break your hearts. they will make you sob.

they will change how you view our world.

but, uh, if you're not into angst... why're you even here? uh... the author... she's the most angsty person i know.

and i know asriel dreemurr, for god's sake.

uh... the next few chapters also include emotional breakdowns, arguments, references to past abuse...

yeah. leave now if you don't wanna see that.

...

...

...

gone?

...

good.

we continue our story in my bedroom, where my little brother and my saviour lie...


	5. Show Me, How You Justify, Telling All Your Lies Like Second Nature...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "H-Human..." he shakily mumbled. "You... You're my f-friend, right?"
> 
> Frisk's eyes widened, but they forced themselves to nod and smile. "Of course."
> 
> "Th-Then..." he took a shaky breath. "Then wh-why'd you let them l-live?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm hoping you guys read the warning that I posted just before this, because this chapter is... dark.
> 
> Main Character: Papyrus.  
> Angsty Character of the Day: Papyrus.  
> Guy Who Needs A Hug: Papyrus.
> 
> Papyrus needs a hug.
> 
> Don't worry! It's not forever! ;) Papyrus will be back to himself in a chapter or two.
> 
> Word Count: 323 - it's mainly just a bridge chapter. Think of it as chapter 3.5, in a way.
> 
> This sort of explains a bit of my Papyrus. He needs a hug. A major hug.

He fiddled with his scarf again, staring emptily at his brother's bed.

"It'll be alright, Pap," Frisk whispered, running their tanned fingers down his back. "He'll be fine. We can go and ask around to see if anyone's seen him, yeah? Would ya like that?"

He couldn't resist nodding, his eyesocket flickering with colour.

It scared Frisk slightly. They had grown used to Sans' icy blue iris, but Papyrus... they'd never seen him as the intimidating type.

Yet here they were, staring into his one orb.

It was the same colour as the inside of a blood orange - the bright, sparkling red colour sparkled slightly, as if wet by the orange tears that dripped down his cheeks.

"H-Human..." he shakily mumbled. "You... You're my f-friend, right?"

Frisk's eyes widened, but they forced themselves to nod and smile. "Of course."

"Th-Then..." he took a shaky breath. "Then wh-why'd you let them l-live?"

Their heart stopped, their breath caught in their throat. They turned to him with panicked eyes, though they forced their mouth to curl into the familiar shape of a soft smile. "What, P-Pap?" they asked softly, trying to ignore their stumble. "Who're you t-talking about? I'm a p-pacifist. I let e-everyone live."

He chuckled softly, with a low, sorrowful tone. "I'm not an... an idiot, Frisky." he said, his tone unusually blunt. "And yet, you think I don't k-know. You think, j-just 'cos I don't m-mention it, that I'm i-ignorant."

"Wha-"

"Well," he continued, his eyes locking onto them, sending a wave of fear through their body. "maybe I'm just l-lazy. Maybe I just h-hate seeing the s-sorrow on Sans' face when he r-realizes. M-Maybe..." he gulps. "Maybe I just h-hate seeing you as... t-them."

Their eyes widened and their blood ran cold. "P-Papyrus... you..."

"Maybe..."

Cold, strong fingers grabbed her wrists in unmovable fists.

"Maybe I just hate watching t-them die."

With nothing more, he threw them back and walked away.


	6. Note

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Author's note

Hey.

Erm, as you probably have noticed, I'm not the best author in the world.

Heck, I'm far from it.

And so, I bring forth my most recent issue: angst in context.

It's been a while since I've written angst, though God knows I'm a slut for it, and the last time I did, it involved... well, it involved one of the main characters and probably the most likeable person dying.

I don't particularly want to add major character death, but it's an option.

My ideas, thus far, are pretty straightforward. Beginning, middle, climax, resolution, ending - but if I'm honest, I'm not particularly content with that.

So here's the deal:

I might not update frequently - heck, when have I - but that's because I'll be working on... a prototype angst chapter.

An angsty filler, if you will, that progresses the plot only slightly.

I'm honestly shocked that anyone would read this. The most I've gotten is a few laughs at my pun-filled, goofy attempts at humour.

When I describe myself as angsty, know that I have a certain mentality where stories always sound better in my head.

So, instead of trying to perfect my ideas, I've found a new system that's more efficient.

I can't thank you guys enough for putting up with my sorry attempts at drama. Honestly, if it weren't for you, this fic would be buried somewhere in my documents folder. I don't think this is my best story and it's tempting to rewrite and lengthen a chapter or two.

But anyway...

 

THE ONLY INTERESTING PART OF THIS RAMBLE:

I'm thinking of making this... longer, in a way. The chapters already written would be made into one or two longer chapters, and I'd spend more time making future ones longer.

Obviously, uh... the angst is still a work in progress. Don't expect anything too spectacular - baby steps!

But anyway, I'm rambling.

My point is, I'm New to this fandom, to these characters, and it might take a while to perfect the art of angst.

Love you guys for sticking around, cos god knows I'm nothing special!

~ Lion x


	7. A/N: SIDESTORY & PLOTHOLES

Ok so, I'm back!

That filler chapter? Yeah, that's an entire fic in the works. This fic is on hiatus whilst I work on that one. Sorry for the inconvenience!

It's called 'Inevitability', if you're interested.

Please ignore any plotholes in previous chapters. This was my first undertale fic, so Papyrus is a little ooc in some parts.

(Scared Papyrus (when Sans is involved) = Angry Papyrus = Thinking irrationally)

Sorry for the wait!

~Lion


End file.
